Terrapins holds off Tigers, 79-77 |
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Four times in the second half of Saturday’s game at Maryland, the Tigers slashed what had been a 13-point first half Terrapin lead to one point.
Each time, however, the Terrapins (12-7 overall, 2-3 ACC) were able to hold the Tigers at bay and eventually held on for a 79-77 win at the Comcast Center. Demontez Stitt led Clemson (13-6, 2-3) with 20 points, Jerai Grant had 15 and Andre Young added 14. The Tigers have lost two in a row following an eight-game winning streak. "Well this was a great college basketball game, and unfortunately it didn't end the way we would have liked,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said. “Our guys battled again and our seniors did great, especially Jerai [Grant] and Demontez [Stitt]. They both played hard and most importantly they played smart. To Maryland's credit, I think they played very well. "They handled the ball, had a limited amount of turnovers and they were very inspired. The most disappointing thing was that we couldn't get them controlled defensively. We needed more stops on the defensive end of the court, but I do think the offense played very well today. We just need to finish, especially in our ACC matchups." Jordan Williams set a Maryland program record in recording his 13th consecutive double-double, finishing with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Cliff Tucker added 15 and Adrian Bowie and Terrell Stoglin each had 13 for a Maryland team that was playing its second game in three days. Maryland never trailed after an early 21-3 run made it 26-13 in the first half. Clemson pulled to within a point at 76-75 on a 3-pointer by Stitt with 14.7 seconds to go. Sean Mosley made two foul shots for the Terrapins to make it 78-75, and instead of going for a 3-pointer the Tigers went inside and got a rim-rattling dunk from Devin Booker with 2.1 seconds left, making it 78-77. Tucker sank one of two at the line for the final margin. A final shot by Stitt from around midcourt bounced off the backboard. "Well we were trying to run a screen to screen for Andre to hit a 3-pointer, and they switched out which messed up our guys,” Brownell said of the final offensive possession. “If that was 4.8 seconds instead of 2.8, then I think it would have been a much different scenario. In four seconds you can advance the ball pretty far, but with only two seconds that is much more difficult. Demontez took a decent shot; it just didn't make it in." The Tigers were playing without junior swingman Tanner Smith, who sprained his knee in Tuesday night's loss at North Carolina. Smith was replaced by junior Bryan Narclisse, who fouled out after scoring four points in his third career start. The Terrapins led by as many as eight points early in the second half, but Clemson kept battling back, setting up the drama in the final two minutes. Maryland went 24 for 48 from the floor, the first team to shoot 50 percent against Clemson this season. The Terrapins went 6-for-11 from 3-point range in taking a 40-36 halftime lead. Maryland missed seven of its first eight shots and trailed 10-5 before Bowie made a driving layup to ignite an 8-1 run. After a basket by Stitt made it 13 apiece, the Terrapins ran off 13 straight points, including successive 3-pointers by Mosley, Stoglin and Tucker. Maryland eventually led by 11 near the end of the first half, at 40-29, but the Tigers held them scoreless over the final 3:47 of the half. Grant said the it’s hard to beat a team making as many runs as the Terps. "Maryland was hitting so many shots,” Grant said. “They were hitting threes and they were getting in the paint. We made it tough for them at one point, but they made runs. It's hard to beat a team that makes all of their shots." "Stitt said the Tigers need to put this one behind them and move on quickly. "You never want to lose - especially me, I'm a competitor,” Stitt said. “Tonight we fought back but it just felt like we fought so hard to get back in it to just let the game slip away in the last seconds. It was just tough to get over that hump. We couldn't get over that hump and take the lead again. It's pretty frustrating when you feel like as a team you're playing hard, but other teams find ways to score. In the first half we didn't really apply pressure like we wanted to. "This is when we have to pull together as a team. We know that we've lost some close games, but they could've gone either way. We just didn't get the luck of the draw, but we just have to take this and build on it. We're close to being a really good team on the road, but we have to learn how to finish games. When you start off good, you have to maintain that energy and poise because teams are going to make runs especially on their home courts when the crowd is into it. We just have to learn to keep pushing and not let those guys make that run."
VISITORS: Clemson 13-6, 2-3 ACC
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